Belt-tightener.



No. 781,186. PATBNTED JAN. 31, 1905.

j G. L. GHATPIELD. BELT TIGHTENBR.

APPLIOATIoNfILEAD-Aua,1904.

31.1011441605 George L. Chgfild i. y

No'. "781,186.1 PATENTED JAN. 31, 1905.v

' G. L. -GHATPIBLD- BELT TIGHTENBR.

APPLlCATIoN 'FILED AUG. s, 1904'.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

KUL

lGforga L. Chatfield UNITED STATES Patented January 31, 1905.

PATENT OEEICE.

GEORGE L. CHATFILD, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR TO-THE- PNEUMATIC ELEVATOR AND WEIGHER COMPANY, OF INDIANAPOLIS, l INDIANA, A CORPORATION OF INDIANA. i

BELT-TIGIHTENEFil f SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 781,186, dated January 31, i905.

Application sied Angus. 8,1904. serial No. 219,901.

To @ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE L. CHATEIELD,

a citizen of theUnited States, residing atIndianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented. certain new and usethe following is a specification.

My present invention is designed especially ful Improvements in Belt-Tighteners, of which for use-upon the housings of the pneumatic IO elevators which form the subject-matter ofthe Schuman patents, of which No. 623,109, dated April 11, 1899, and No. 641,045, dated January 9, 1900, are leading examples. In machines of the class in question there are two I5 shafts within a short distance of each other (one of which is arranged nearly perpendicularly above the other) carrying appropriate pulleys, around which a short belt passes, whereby-one of said shafts is driven from the 2O other. The shafts themselves are not adjustable to any appreciable extent, and they ,are designed to runat a comparatively high speed. The shafts and bearings being small, the belt at, no time should be vexcessively tight,

for the reason that such excessive tightness causes friction 1n and consequentheatmg and Y wearing of the bearings, while on the other hand unless the belt is reasonably tight it will slip, so that the driven shaft will not be driven at the proper' speed. ySmall belts of` this character inevitably stretch under use, and it has therefore, heretofore, been necessary to frequently cut suchA belts in order to maintain the proper tension,'and as this is often carelessly done by unskilled operators the result has been that theh belt is apt to b'e too tight at times and too loose at other times, with the result that the machine has thereby been caused to work imperfectly. These ma- 40 chines are made both right-hand and lefthand, as it is called, in order to accommodate them to the varying sorts of grain-separators or threshing-machines to which theyare attached, and it is therefore'highly desirable that any means which is'provided for overcoming thedilficulties in question should be adapted to be used indilferently upon either of the housings. This requires that the conferal bolts 22, 23, and 24, andthese bolts are struction and arrangements of the parts shall shifted from one side to the other of the pulley-support.

It is the object of my invention to provide a belt-tightener which shall meet the requirements of thesituation described.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

i which are Vmade a part hereof, and on which similar reference characters indicate similar parts, VFlgure 1 1s a slde elevation of what 1s denominateda left-hand housing equipped 60 with one 'of my improved belt-tighteners; Fig. 2, asimilar view of a right-hand housing; Fig. 3, an elevation of the belt-tightener and immediately adjacent parts, similar to a portion of Figl, but on a considerably-enlarged scale:

jFig. 4, atop or plan view of the said belt-` tightener as seen when looking downwardly from the dotted line 4 4 in, Figs. 1 and 3; Fig.l 5, an elevation as seen -from the dotted line 5 5 alongside Fig. 3,' and Fig. 6 a sectional view 70 as seen whenlooking in the direction indicated by the arrows from the dotted line 6 6 in Fig. 3. The machine-housing 21 shown is similar' to that illustrated in the drawings of the Schuman patents above referred to, and as the same forms no part of my present invention it will not be further described hereiuexcept inci- 4d'entally in describing the invention. This housing is regularly provided with the sevutilized in attaching the frame of my belttightener -to s'aid housing. The said-belt- 1 tightener frame 31 has four slots 32, 33, 34,

and 35, which I utilize in securing it to the housing by means of theJ bolts 22, 23,.and 24 35 above Vmentioned'. These slots are so arranged as to permit of a considerable adjustment'of the tightener-frame upon the housing. In applying the belt-tightener to alefthand housing the bolts are insertedl in the slots 32, 33, and 34, while in Yapplyingit to a right-hand housing they are inserted in the slots 32, 33, and 35. The slots 32 and 33 are substantially segments of acirclestruck from the center of the belt-tightener frame, while 95 the slots 34 and 35 extend on angles toward each other in such a direction as to permit of the adjustment of that end of the frame in respect to the bolt 24, while the other slots 32 and 33 move upon the bolts 22 and 23 in revolving the frame 31 upon its center. By this means I am enabled to secure a considerable adjustment of the position of the belt-tightener as a whole, and thus increase its range of eiiicient action. At the working center o f the frame 31 I form a stud-shaft 36, upon which the pulley-housing 41, carrying the tightener-pulley 42 by means of its shaft 43, is mounted. This stud-shaft, as shown, I prefer to make integral with the frame and also to make it hollow for the purposes of lightness, the whole structure being preferably a malleable casting. The pulley-housing 41 is also preferably a malleable casting and is adapted to be moved upon and oscillate about the stud-shaft 36. In the ends of its arms I mount the shaft 43, which is preferably a piece of ordinary steel shaft and which is held firmly therein, as by a set-screw 44.

The pulley 42 is preferably made with a chamber in its hub to contain a lubricant, and the part 45,which comes :immediately in contact with the shaft 43, I prefer to make in the form of a bushing (preferably of bronze) and which when in place constitutes one wall of the lubricant-chamber 47. An opening (normally closed by a screw-plug 48) is provided for the admission of lubricant to the chamber, and a small perforation 46 through the bushing permits said lubricant to reach the shaft. The pulley being quite small runs at a very high speed, and by this means I am enabled to secure suficient lubrication, and consequently a long wearing life.

The pulley-housing 41 has a tailpiece 51 eX- tending out on the opposite side of its hub from'the arms carrying the pulley-shaft, and with this a spring-holder engages, said holder being composed of a bolt 52, having a wingnut 53 and a compression-spring 54 surrounding said bolt, said spring being interposed between the head o'f said bolt and an appropriate bearing on the side of the tailpieces 51. I prefer to also interpose washers 55 and 56 as the immediate contact-pieces for said spring; but these are obviously merely a matter of choice. The bolt 52 passes between a pair of fingers 57 and 58 on the frame 31, which are so formed and arranged as to constitute a suitable bearing for the nut 53 in whatever position the parts are placed, the size and shape of said fingers being such as to permit the shifting of position'of the bolt and nut as the housing 41 swings about the stud-shaft 36 either in operation or when shifted to work on the different housings.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what Iclaim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a machine-housing having two shafts in relatively iiXed position and a belt whereby one is driven from the other, of a self-adjustable belt-tightener consisting of a frame, a stud-shaft on said frame, a pulley-housing on said stud-shaft, a pulley carried in said housing, and a spring connection between the main belt-tightener frame and the pulley-housing, whereby the pulley carried by the latter is yieldingly held against the belt by which one of the machine-shafts is driven from the other.

2. The combination with a machine-housing containing two shafts and a belt-d rive whereby one is driven from the other, of a belttightener adjustably secured to said machinehousing, the means of adjustment embodying slots two of which are substantially segmental to the pivot-center of the tightener-frame and another of which is at an angle which bisects a continuation of the said circle.

3. The combination with a machine-housing having two shafts, one of which is driven by a belt from the other, of a belt-tightenercoinprising a frame and a tightener-pulley earried thereby and adapted to come in contact with said belt, said frame being provided with a series of slots whereby it is enabled to be attached to the housing either side up by bolts in the housing in identical positions, and said bolts, whereby said belttightener is adapted to either right or left hand housings.

4. The combination, in a belt-tightener, of a frame embodying a stud-shaft, a pulley-housing mounted on said stud-shaft and carrying a pulley upon one side thereof and provided with a tailpieee upon the other side, said pnlley, and a tension device engaging with said tailpiece and with projections upon the tightener-frame, said tension device consisting of a bolt, an appropriate nut and a suitable conipression-spring.

5. The combination, in abelt-tightener, of a frame embodying a stud-shaft, a pulley-housing mounted on said stud-shaft and having suitable pulley-bearings upon one side thereof and a suitable tailpiece upon the other side, and the frame having suitable projections between which the stem of a spring-holder will pass, said spring-holder,and a spring therefor, said tail piece and said projections being formed alike upon both sides, whereby the tigh tener, by merely Shifting the spring-tension device and swinging the pulley-housing on its pivot, is adapted for use either as a right-hand or as a left-hand tightener.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal, at Indianapolis, Indiana, this 23d day of July, A. D. 1904.

, GEORGE ItCllA'lIIllhD. Il.. 5.] Witnesses:

CHESTER BRADFORD, JAMES A. WALSH.

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